The World Isn't Black and White
by alpacamybooks
Summary: Touko sets off on her journey through Unova doe-eyed and green as a summer Deerling. She has no idea the hardships she'll face, the heartbreak she'll go through, and the friends she'll lose. A Nuzlocke story.
1. Chapter 1

Touko barely slept for a minute since the day Professor Juniper told Bianca, Cheren, and her that they would each receive a Pokémon. She had just finished breakfast when there was a knock on her door. She jumped out of her chair so fast it fell to the floor. Her mother didn't even move a muscle, knowing that Touko would be at the door long before she stepped foot out of the kitchen. There was a loud bang as the door crashed against the wall and revealed Prof. Juniper with a large blue box with a green ribbon and bow.

"Are they in there?" Touko asked immediately drawn to the package.

"Hello to you too, Touko," Juniper laughed. "Yes, they are. There's one for Bianca, Cheren, and you so please try not to fight over them."

"Oh, don't worry. We all talked about which one we want." Touko wanted to grab the package from Prof. Juniper's hands. "Can I?"

Prof. Juniper handed the box to Touko's excited, shaking hands and said, "Please, be careful not to drop it and make sure each of you see me after you've picked your Pokémon."

"Thank you, Prof. Juniper. Thank you so much." Touko stared wide-eyed at the box in her hands. A life changing once in a lifetime opportunity was within her grasp.

It wasn't every day that a teenager, especially one in a small town such as Nuvema, got the chance to travel the world and become a Pokémon trainer. That kind of opportunity was usually reserved for those with enough money to either buy a Pokémon egg or go to a special school from a young age. It was very rare, though not unheard of, for a Pokémon professor to allow teenage interns to do field research on Pokémon for him or her. When Prof. Juniper told Touko that she had an Oshawatt, a Snivy, and a Tepig avalible for such research Touko jumped at the chance, and put in several good words for her best friends. After months of discussions, training, waiting for school to end, and getting a license, the day had finally come.

"You're welcome, Touko. Make sure you see me before you leave, understand?"

"Yes!"

"And make sure you take good care of all the Pokémon you catch."

"Oh, I will!"

Touko ran up the stairs to her room and immediately called Bianca and Cheren.

* * *

><p>Touko stood in front of the box and stared at it relentlessly while Cheren paced the floor behind her.<p>

"I can't believe she's late! I mean, she's always late, but this is more important than a party or a movie," he exclaimed throwing his hands into the air.

They heard the door click right on cue. There were very few muffled words before Bianca came bursting into Touko's room.

"I'm so sorry I'm late guys. Did you open it yet?" Bianca asked as she walked up to the box.

"No, we decided to wait for you and boy was that a mistake," Cheren said sarcastically.

"I said I was sorry. If I could have come here the second Touko called me I would have, but my dad is still trying to convince me not to go."

Touko felt sorry for Bianca's situation with her dad, but was much more concerned with getting her first Pokémon. She put her hands on the bow and said, "Ready?" They both nodded and she slowly undid the bow, hoping to save it. She dropped the ribbon next to the box and opened the top. Inside were three Pokeballs, each one labeled with the name of the Pokémon within it and a small picture for further recognition.

Touko took a deep breath and grabbed the Pokeball containing Snivy. She held the Pokeball close to her chest and looked down at it lovingly. She didn't even notice how quickly Bianca snatched up Oshawatt and Cheren grabbed Tepig. She knew from that moment on that she had found a life partner and nothing would be the same.

"Hey, why don't we have a Pokémon battle?" Bianca asked enthusiastically.

"Even though they're small and weak we should not have a Pokémon battle in a house," Cheren chided.

The two went back and forth as usual until Touko released her Snivy and said, "Let's do it." There was fierceness in her voice reserved only for times such as these when she felt passion and determination for a cause.

Bianca released Oshawatt and the two Pokémon and trainers immediately jumped into the battle. The Pokémon tackled each other until the room was a disaster and Snivy stood victorious. Touko didn't even mind the mess her room had become. She was overwhelmed with joy and pride.

"Let me heal your Snivy before we battle, Touko," Cheren said.

"Thanks, Cheren."

"I thought it was a bad idea to battle inside," Bianca interjected.

From the look of annoyance on Cheren's face, Touko could tell that he wished Bianca were somewhere else. "It is," he conceded, "but her room is already a mess and it's no fair that you two should have all of the fun."

"Well, why don't you battle me?"

"I want Touko to be my first battle." The look Cheren gave her almost made her blush. Ever since their vacation in Undella town, Cheren seemed to look at Touko a different way.

"Then release Tepig already," Touko urged.

Once again tackles were exchanged, with Tepig giving more and taking less damage than Oshawatt seemed to. Snivy was on his last leg when Tepig whipped his tail rather than tackled Snivy. Touko looked confused at Cheren, knowing that he had missed the perfect chance to win his first Pokémon battle. Touko showed no such mercy and ordered Snivy to tackle Tepig causing it to faint.

"Looks like you won again, Touko. You must be a natural at this," Bianca exclaimed, smiling as always. "I'm going to go apologize to your mom for the mess we made."

Cheren returned Tepig to its Pokeball and said, "Me too." He followed Bianca down the stairs, but not before taking one last look at Touko.

Touko stood alone in her room. Her Snivy looked at her as if waiting for something.

"I'm going to call you Voltaire." He seemed to approve.

Touko looked for the green ribbon and when she finally found it she tied it into a bow in her hair. "It's green just like you, Voltaire." She smiled but he didn't seem to be very impressed. She returned him to his Pokeball and headed downstairs.

* * *

><p>Touko walked in on the latter half of the conversation about her room. Her mother didn't seem too upset by the fact that they had had a Pokémon battle in Touko's room, but that was thanks to years of practice in hiding her emotions and the fact that she hadn't seen Touko's room yet.<p>

"Shouldn't you all be on your way to Juniper's lab now?" Ms. Shiro said as calmly as possible.

"Oh yeah, I have to go home first. I'll meet you guys there," Bianca said before running out the door.

"Thanks for understanding, Ms. Shiro. I'll see you there, Touko."

Once Cheren left, Ms. Shiro walked up to her daughter and sighed. "I know I'm not going to like what I see up there so let me give you this and heal your Pokémon first." She handed Touko a small pink box.

Touko removed the lid to see a brand new pink cross transceiver. "Thank you, mom." She put it on and gave her mom a tight hug.

"Now go before I have to ground you."

"I love you." Touko gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and ran out the door straight to Prof. Juniper's lab.

Touko ran right up to the entrance of the lab to see her friends waiting for her. She pushed her friends inside, too excited to even wait for them to walk themselves in.

"Oh, good, I've been waiting for you three. Now, you all know why you're here but let me just explain one last time. This is an unpaid research position. You will each receive a Pokedex and then it is your duty to meet as many Pokémon as possible so the Pokedex can collect data. It will automatically scan any Pokémon you run into as long as the Pokémon is within range. Do you all still wish to take the position and become Pokémon trainers?"

Bianca, Cheren, and Touko all nodded.

"Good. I've already showed all of you how to catch and scan a Pokémon, so I guess it's time for you to all head off. Have fun, take good care of your Pokémon, and don't forget to check in every so often. I need this data. Oh, one last thing." Prof. Juniper walked over to her desk and picked up three small bundles. "Here are some Pokeballs. I'll be in touch."

The trio stepped out of the lab and Ms. Shiro ran to catch up to them.

"What's wrong, mom?" Touko asked.

"Nothing. I just forgot to give you all a parting gift." She handed region maps to each of them and gave them hugs. "I'll miss all of you. It's like I'm losing three children instead of one. You're all just so grown up now. I'm so proud of you."

Touko could sense that her mom was on the verge of tears and grabbed her friend's arms. "Thanks so much, mom. We love you too. We'll still visit and let you know how we're doing."

Touko pulled Bianca and Cheren and her mother stood there watching. Touko tried not to think about how painful it must feel for her mother to watch her leave. She was an adult now and she had to leave the nest now or she would never be able to.

They reached the town limits and stared at the route ahead of them.

"Let's take our first steps onto Route 1 together," Bianca suggested.

They nodded in agreement and on "three" all crossed town limits onto Route 1.

* * *

><p>It wasn't long before Touko ran into a small Lillipup. She released Voltaire and smiled. She couldn't wait to actually catch her first Pokémon. She took a deep breath before telling Voltaire to tackle the Lillipup. It did a lot more damage than Touko had expected it would so she called off Voltaire and threw a Pokeball instead. Once she caught the Lillipup she stepped out of the tall grass and released it.<p>

"Hi there," she smiled at the Lillipup, but it was still cautious of her. No matter how much she tried to convince it that she was nice and gentle the Lillipup would not warm up to her. She gave up but before returning it she said, "You're name's now Bo. I hope you like it."

It yipped right before the beam of light stretched out from the Pokeball and drew Bo in.

* * *

><p>Touko spent some time training before heading up to Accumula's Pokecenter. Her first priority was to heal her Pokémon and once that was complete she spent every cent she had on Potions and Pokeballs.<p>

When she exited the Pokecenter there was a crowd in the square. Her curiosity drew her closer to the growing crowd. She walked up to Cheren who pulled her to the front of the crowd. They watched as an imposing man with green hair stepped forward from a line of nearly identical uniformed men and women.

"I am Ghetsis. I am here representing Team Plasma. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation."

Murmurs erupted from the crowd but it did not delay Ghetsis's speech. He knew that if he spoke others would listen.

"I'm sure most of you believe that we humans and Pokémon are partners that have come to live together because we want and need each other. Is that really the truth? Have you ever considered that perhaps we humans only assume this is the truth? Pokémon are subject to the selfish commands of trainers. They get pushed around when they are our "partners" at work. Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying?"

Touko was taken aback. She had only just started training but she could already feel the connection between Voltaire, Bo, and herself. He had to be wrong. On the other hand, she had only just started training and he certainly seemed to be much older. Maybe he knew something about Pokémon training she did not.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, Pokémon are different from humans. They are living beings that contain unknown potential. They are living beings from whom we humans have much to learn. Tell me, what is our responsibility to these wonderful beings called Pokémon?"

"Liberation?" someone in the crowd asked.

"That's right! We must liberate the Pokémon. Then, and only then, will humans and Pokémon truly be equals. Everyone, I end my words here today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and Pokémon and the correct way to proceed. We sincerely appreciate your attention." With that the eerily identical men and women formed a square around Ghetsis and lead him away.

The people in the crowd began to talk amongst themselves about the speech. Neither Touko nor Cheren, nor anyone they could over hear could even fathom "liberating" Pokémon. Touko had only just gotten hers and already she was extremely attached to them. Once the crowd dissipated a boy around Touko's age approached her and Cheren.

"Your Pokémon, just now, it was saying -" he said.

"You can hear my Pokémon talking?" Touko questioned, thoroughly confused.

"Yes, they talk. You two can't hear it either then. How sad," he looked down disappointedly. Suddenly his head popped back up. "My name is N."

Cheren introduced himself and Touko and explained their job to complete the Pokedex's they were given.

"My main goal is to become the Champion, though," Cheren said proudly.

N seemed disappointed and mentioned confining many Pokémon in order to complete the Pokedex.

"Are Pokémon really happy that way?" he asked. "Well, Touko, are they? Let me hear your Pokémon again."

Touko looked at Cheren out of the corner of her eye and wondered how they managed to meet such a weirdo.

Voltaire and Bo wiped the floor with N's Purrloin but N seemed more interested in whatever they were "saying" to him. Touko was relieved when he gave her prize money for winning the battle. She had only just then realized that she had saved no money for a hotel to sleep in that night.

"As long as Pokémon are confined, they will never become perfect beings. I have to change the world for Pokémon, because they are my friends," N said right before suddenly walking away.

"Okay," Touko said, stretching the word out for several seconds longer than normal.

"Whatever. I wouldn't worry about either of them. Pokémon and people help each other out. We're good to them and they're good to us. End of story. Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and go to Striaton City. I'm going to go from Gym Leader to Gym Leader so my Pokémon can become stronger. See ya."

"Bye, Cheren."


	2. Chapter 2

Touko stepped onto Route 2 just as her cross transceiver went off. Her mother's face came up on the screen with a clear blue sky in the background.

"Hi, Touko. Where are you?"

"I'm on Route 2. Why?"

"I just wanted to check in and give you a call. Bye!"

Her mother's cheerful face disappeared and she started walking again.

"Touko, wait!"

Touko turned around to see her mother walking towards her. Touko met her halfway and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I found a present I bought for you a while ago." Ms. Shiro pulled a pair of breand new shoes out of a bag and handed them to Touko. "I found it while I was cleaning and I thought 'better late than never!'"

"Thanks, mom," Touko took off her old shoes and put on the new ones. "They're so comfy! I feel like I could run for miles in these things." Touko smiled.

"You're welcome," Ms. Shiro got the sad look in her eyes that she usually got whenever she noticed that Touko had grown-up. "Touko, I want you to know that no matter what you're never alone. I'll always love you. Bianca and Cheren will always be your best friends. You can always come home if you need to."

"Thanks, mom."

They hugged and said their goodbyes.

* * *

><p>"Took you long enough to get here," Cheren said putting a hand on Touko's shoulder and leaning on her.<p>

"I wasn't training for that long," Touko shifted to support his weight.

"I've been here for two hours."

"Wow, I guess time really does fly. Did you get your badge yet?"

"Yep," he pushed off her and pulled out a blue badge case from an inner pocket. He passed the case to Touko.

She held the case gently and stared at the shiny Trio Badge. "Was it hard?"

"Not for me. My Pokémon are so strong that it was a breeze. You should probably train in the Dreamyard though."

"I beat you in our first battle, remember?" Touko closed the case and handed it back.

"That was so long ago that I hardly even remember it." He had a smug look on his face as he put the case away. "And I would battle you know to show how strong they are, but it just wouldn't be fair." He smiled playfully, unable to keep up the façade any longer.

"Ha ha," Touko said sarcastically. "Now really, how was it? Should I train in the Dreamyard?"

"Yeah, they decide who battles you so I had to fight Cress since I have Tepig. I'm gonna head out. I still have a lot more badges to get."

"See ya."

* * *

><p>Touko walked into the Dreamyard and looked around. There were a few trainers but no grass. She wondered how she could properly train if she couldn't even fight wild Pokémon. Two trainers asked to battle her as she looked for a way to get into the ruined building. She could see grass and Pokémon through a hole in the wall but a large bush blocked the hole. Her efforts to squeeze her way past it only resulted in scratches along her arms and legs.<p>

"Damn it! I hate trees," she yelled shaking the branches of the bush. Voltaire stared at her mildly amused, but mostly bored.

"Hey, girl," a strange voice called from behind Touko.

"Me?" she asked as she turned around.

"Yeah, you. Come here."

Touko cautiously walked over with Voltaire and Bo at her sides.

"You're a trainer, right?" Touko nodded and the woman continued, "I see you have a grass type. It's gonna be hard to get the Trio Badge with him. Why don't you take this Panpour?" The stranger pulled out a Pokeball and held it out for Touko.

"Um, no thanks. I'm okay."

"Take it," the stranger said forcefully grabbing Touko's hand and putting the Pokeball in it.

"No, really –"

"Take it. It's a gift."

The stranger quickly ran off before Touko could give the Pokeball back. Both Bo and Voltaire looked at her and she looked down at the Pokeball. She looked up at where the stranger had run off to before placing the Pokeball in her bag.

"I guess we have a Panpour now."

* * *

><p>"You're first Pokémon was a Snivy, right?" Cilan asked.<p>

Touko nodded. She was anxious for her first gym battle. She squeezed Bo's Pokeball tightly as she waited for them to decide who would battle her. Finally, Chili stepped forward. Touko smiled and released Bo.

Bo assaulted Chili's Lillipup relentlessly while it worked itself up into lather. When the Lillipup finally attacked Bo he was knocked on his side. He stood up but Touko could tell that he was hurt. She removed a potion from her bag and sprayed Bo's wound just as Chili did the same for his Lillipup.

"I hope you have more of those, because you're going to need them," he said. Cress and Cilan sat at a table to the side and watched their brother fight.

Touko could see the smile on all three of their faces. "If I can't beat you then I might as well, just give up on training right now. Bite his Lillipup, Bo!"

Chili glared at her then ordered his Lillipup to attack. Once again, Bo was hurt much more than Chili's Lillipup but that didn't discourage Touko in the least. She took out Bo's Pokeball and called him back into it. She then released Voltaire.

"Let's kick some ass, Voltaire!"

Vines flew from Voltaire and lashed out at the Lillipup until it fainted. Chili and Touko both returned their Pokémon. Voltaire wouldn't stand a chance against a fire type and Bo was on his last legs, leaving Touko with no choice but Panpour.

"Go, Pansear!

"Go," Touko still hadn't thought of a name for her newly acquired Panpour so she decided to name it after what she needed at the moment to survive the battle, "Hero!"

Water shot out from Hero and doused Chili's Pansear until it could no longer take it. Cilan and Cress stood up and walk onto the platform. They stood on either side of Chili as he handed Touko her first gym badge and a technical machine.

"These are for you. The TM is for work up. Good luck," Chili said.

"Thanks," Touko smiled and left.

* * *

><p>Touko had only just walked out of the gym when a woman ran right up to her and introduced herself.<p>

"Hi! I'm Fennel. I'm a friend of Professor Juniper. She wanted me to give you something. Come with me," the woman said faster than Touko could process. Fennel grabbed Touko's hand and pulled her into a building. "My workshop is upstairs."

"Whoa, wait!" Touko planted her feet and her hand slipped from Fennel's grip.

"What?"

"Can you please slow down? I, honestly, don't know you at all and this is very suspicious."

"My apologies. Let me tell you a bit about myself. I'm a scientist; I research trainers; Professor Juniper is my friend from college, and she asked me to help you and your friends. Shall we?" Fennel looked expectantly at Touko then walked up the stairs.

Touko slowly followed, still very cautious. When she reached the top of the stairs she looked around and noticed a giant machine attached to a bed. It worried here.

"I have something for you. It's a HM. It'll help you on your journey." Fennel handed the machine to Touko.

"What does it do?" she asked while she inspected it. She knew plenty about technical machines but she had never heard of an "HM" before.

"It works the same way a technical machine does except you can use it multiple times and your Pokémon will always remember what they learn from it. That one in particular teaches a Pokémon how to cut down things like small trees and bushes."

That sounded weird to Touko, but she had never understood how technical machines really worked. She knew that they had to be inserted into the Pokeball but what they did from there never made sense to Touko. She put the machine in a pocket on her bag to use later.

"Now, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to go to the Dreamyard and get mist from the Munna there. I need it for a project I'm working on. Will you do that for me?"

"I guess," Touko said tentatively. They both stood there for a second before Touko realized that she could go.

* * *

><p>After a visit to the Pokecenter, Touko went straight to the Dreamyard. She stood in front of the large bush with the HM in one hand and her three Pokeballs balanced carefully in the other. She didn't want Voltaire to learn how to cut down trees permanently. It was more useful as a temporary skill. She didn't want to give it to Hero because she knew that water Pokémon were so useful.<p>

"I'm sorry Bo, but it looks like you get to learn how to cut stuff."

She slipped the small disc into the slot on his Pokeball. There was a whirring sound as the Pokeball read the disc and spit it back out. She knew that move downloads took longer than that so she checked the disc. There were no scratches so she blew into the slot incase dust somehow got in. She tried several more times before she gave up and inserted the disc into Hero's Pokeball. Once the HM finished downloading Touko released Hero and slipped the disc into her bag.

"I can't believe Lillipups can't learn how to cut down a frickin' bush but Panpours can. Cut this stupid thing down please, Hero."

The second Hero finished cutting down the bush Bianca showed up and walked through the hole in the wall. Touko stood there with her mouth agape.

"Are you serious?"

"Hey, Touko," Bianca was all cheer and smiles as usual, "Are you looking for Munna too?"

Touko sighed. "Yep."

"Hey, did you hear that?"

"No," Touko looked curiously at Bianca who stood completely still as she listened for the noise again.

"It's coming from behind the wall. Let's go."

She pulled Touko with her through the decrepit warehouse doors and came face-to-face with a Munna. It let out a low hum that sounded like its name and drifted further away. Bianca called after it as two Team Plasma members appeared out of nowhere and trapped the Munna.

"Come on! Make some dream mist," one of them shouted.

The little Munna shuddered and let out a small mew.

"Who are you? What are you doing?" Bianca asked and Touko remember that she hadn't been present when their leader made his speech.

"We're Team Plasma, of course," the Team Plasma member seemed insulted by the fact that she had never heard of them. "We battle day and night to liberate Pokémon!"

"Then why are you verbally abusing that Munna?" Touko asked.

Both Team Plasma members shifted their attention to her and glared daggers at her.

"Not that it's any of your business but we need its dream mist so we can make people release their Pokémon," the other Team Plasma member retorted haughtily.

It was only after the second one spoke that Touko was sure that she was a girl. Right before Touko could think of a witty comment about their hypocrisy the male Team Plasma member kicked the Munna. Abusing a Pokémon was something Touko would not stand by and watch idly.

"Hey," she shouted firmly. The fire was back in her eyes and the fierceness returned to her voice. "Leave that Munna alone." Her voice was frighteningly low as if the words themselves were going in for the kill.

"We're fighting for the freedom of Pokémon, how we reach that goal is irrelevant. In fact, why don't we rescue your Pokémon from you?" The male Team Plasma member released a Patrat.

"Bring it." Touko released Hero and the battle ended as quickly as it began with Hero hosing the Patrat into unconsciousness.

"Were you not taking her seriously because she's a kid?" The female Team Plasma member laughed and stepped forward.

Touko ignored the insult and waited for the woman to release her Pokémon. She released a Purrloin and Touko immediately had Hero shot it with water.

"It's okay Purrloin. We can handle this brat. Kick sand into its eyes," she ordered.

"Water gun, Hero."

Even with its eyes stinging with sand Hero managed to spray the Purrloin until it stayed down. Touko and the woman both returned their Pokémon.

"I can't believe we lost to this brat," the woman whined.

"We have to get the dream mist!" The man ran and kicked the Munna again.

Touko was about to lunge when a bright light appeared in the corner of her eye and dazed her.

"Are you to goofing off?" Ghetsis questioned.

"Kicking Pokémon is goofing off to you?" Touko yelled.

Another bright light appeared and another Ghetsis stood opposite the first. Touko and Bianca looked back and forth between them thoroughly confused.

"We must separate people and Pokémon," the second Ghetsis announced before another bright flash went off and only one Ghetsis stood before them. "If you cannot fulfill your duties…" he let his sentence die so their imaginations could fill-in the end.

The two Team Plasma members looked genuinely frightened as he glared at them. There was a final flash of light and the grunts ran away and Ghetsis disappeared, leaving Bianca and Touko dazed and confused.

A Musharna emerged from behind a ruined wall and nuzzled the hurt Munna.

"W-was that real? Or did that Musharna make us dream that?" Bianca asked.

Touko didn't know how to answer the question and she didn't need to since Fennel walked up behind them.

"I couldn't wait any longer so I came out myself," Fennel stated. She looked at the Musharna and Munna and asked, "Did something happen?"

Bianca attempted to explain recent events but it didn't make much sense. Fennel still seemed able to follow it somehow.

"Ah! That Musharna must have seen the Munna in trouble and used its powers to help defend it. Wait, that means that there must be dream mist leftover." Fennel pushed past them and sure enough some pink-purple mist floated in the air where the Musharna had been. "This is great! Now I can complete my project," she shouted excitedly. "I want both of you to meet me at my house later." Fennel ran off with the dream mist leaving Bianca and Touko staring at each other blankly.

"I'm gonna look for a Munna. Are you gonna go to her now?" Bianca asked.

"Nah, I'm gonna look for some Pokémon too. I'll go there later." Touko replied and they split in search of Pokémon.

* * *

><p>Touko was in the middle of searching for a Munna when an Audino came out of the grass. She couldn't believe her luck. Audinos were rare Pokémon so Touko decided to be very gentle about battling it to ensure that she could catch it.<p>

Many hits with the Hero's water gun and two Pokeballs later the Audino was caught. Touko stepped out of the tall grass and released the Audino.

"I'm gonna name you Frou Frou!"

Touko and the Audino smiled at each other. Frou Frou bobbed in place as Bianca walked up to them.

"You know that's a boy Audino, right?" she asked.

"Yep, it's just too cute to have a boy name." Touko returned Frou Frou to his Pokeball. "I'm gonna go to Fennel's place then head over to the Pokecenter for the night. You wanna come with me?"

"No, I'm still looking. I'll find one eventually," Bianca laughed.

"Good luck," Touko said before walking away.

* * *

><p>"Oh good, you're finally here Touko. I wanted to give you something as a thank you." The pep in Fennel's step returned now that she seemed to have forgiven Touko's earlier behavior. She handed Touko a C-Gear and briefly explained how it worked for her.<p>

"Thank you, Fennel, but you really didn't have to."

"Oh, it's no problem at all. Thanks to you I can finish my revolutionary invention!"

"It was no problem. If you ever need me to do something like that again I'd be happy to help."

Touko left Fennel's lab and walked over to the Pokecenter. She slept peacefully in one of the cots reserved for trainers in the back of the Pokecenter.


End file.
